Renal/kidney disorders involve an alteration in the normal physiology and function of the kidney. Renal disorders can result from a wide range of acute and chronic conditions and events, including physical, chemical, or biological injury, trauma, disease such as, for example, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, lupus, sickle cell anemia, and various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, HIV-associated nephropathies, etc. Renal/kidney disorders can lead to reduced kidney function, hypertension, and renal failure, seriously compromising quality of life, sometimes requiring dialysis and in certain circumstances, kidney transplantation.
Diabetes characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, is a disease as old as mankind. The number of people globally with diabetes mellitus is projected to rise to 439 million by 2030 (Chen et al., 2011). If incidence rates remain the same, the number of youth with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. is projected to increase by a staggering 49 percent over the next 40 years, while the number with type 1 is expected to climb 23 percent, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the December issue of the year 2012 of Diabetes Care. However, if incidence increases, the number of youth with type 2 could quadruple and the number with type 1 could triple by 2050. Chronic hyperglycemia leads to secondary complications that are more dangerous than hyperglycemia and hence demands constant medical attention and care.
Diabetic nephropathy is a progressive kidney disease caused by angiopathy of capillaries in the kidney glomeruli. It is characterized by nodular glomerulosclerosis due to longstanding diabetes and is a prime cause for dialysis. The syndrome can be seen in patients with chronic diabetes. The disease is progressive and may cause death two or three years after the initial lesions.
Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of chronic kidney failure and end-stage kidney disease. People with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are at risk. The risk is higher if blood-glucose levels are poorly controlled. However, once nephropathy develops, the greatest rate of progression is seen in patients with poor control of their blood pressure.
With increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus in rural population throughout the world and due to adverse effects of synthetic medicine, there is an urgent need for development of indigenous, inexpensive botanical sources for anti-diabetic crude or purified drugs.
Garcinia indica, is found in Guttiferae plants native to India and South East Asia. Its extract has been used as a food ingredient, cosmetic constituent, as well as a traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation and other disorders. Its extract is also considered to be used to treat abdominal ailments. Decoction of the fruit of Garcinia indica has also been used in treatment of diabetes. Oral administration of Garcinia indica rind extract to streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic rats has been shown to be effective in decreasing both fasting and postprandial blood glucose.
Garcinol, a polyisoprenylated benzophenone derivative, is one of the major phyto-constituents obtained from a methanolic or hexane extract of rind from Garcinia indica. Garcinol is a potent antioxidant and anticancer agent among its other biological effects. Its structure makes it a very efficient scavenger of oxygen free radicals and an excellent inhibitor of nitric oxide. Also, in vitro studies (Baliga M, Bhat H P, Pai R J, Boloor R, Palatty P L. The chemistry and medicinal uses of the underutilized Indian fruit tree Garcinia indica Choisy (kokum): A review. Food Res Intl. 2011; 4: 1790-1799) have shown that garcinol suppressed the protein glycation in the bovine serum albumin/fructose system.